


Silver Tongue, Golden Tongue: The Bill Comes Due

by biolumo



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:18:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8561545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biolumo/pseuds/biolumo
Summary: Sequel to my previous LokixOFC work, Silver Tongue, Golden Tongue. Loki and the linguist Ada have returned to Earth to carry out Loki's research mission (or punishment, depending on who you ask). But Earth is not as safe as it seems. Loki has made many enemies over his centuries of life, both very recently and in the distant past; the cost of their revenge may be too high for the god to survive.





	1. Chapter 1

Author’s note: The letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the _th_ in the word _them_

"You…?!" Loki gasped as soon as the light of Heimdall's portal dissipated, leaving their eyes to adjust to the darkness of the evening. "You what…?"

He must've wanted to immediately respond to Ada's sudden statement, but was unable to while traveling through the wormhole. Ada was glad; she wasn't entirely sure how the words had escaped her lips in the first place. After two weeks of surreptitious evening visits in the palace of Asgard, learning things she never thought she would know about language and history, a dash of intimacy, and too much Ragnarok for her liking, she supposed the sentiment _was_ true.

But there was no way she was going to say "I love you" a second time that day, even if the mixture of joy and relief in Loki's eyes made the prospect tempting.

She was saved from further awkwardness by Jane clutching her arm. She turned to face her, expecting her to be wearing the ecstatic expression of an astrophysicist who had just taken her second Einstein-Rosen Bridge ride, but instead found her casting her eyes around nervously. "Ada," Jane said through her teeth, "I think we have company."

Sure enough, three extremely unsavory (and extremely drunk) men were closing in on them. Ada stared at them with blank confusion; this was the same wooded area near University College London that she had first met Loki and Thor- not exactly a hangout for drunken ne'er-do-wells.

"What's this, then?" one of the men slurred as he approached. "A bloody light show, you three, and all your…" he looked over Loki's collection of sizeable trunks, his eyes coming to rest on the one that contained Ada's "payment", " _luggage_? Don't you know it ain't safe in London after midnight?"

One of the other two men lunged for Jane, who squealed and flinched. The man never laid a hand on her, however; in a swift motion, Loki swept in front of Jane and grabbed the man by the neck, leaving his feet kicking a good distance from the ground. The man that had spoken gawked at him in surprise.

"I should kill this dull creature for even presuming to threaten me," Loki said cooly, cocking his head lazily to look at the other men. "I am genuinely curious- can you supply me with a good reason not to?"

"Threating _you_?!" Jane scoffed, "I've been lunged at and grabbed enough times to know when I'm being threatened, this guy _certainly_ -"

"Jane, not the time," Ada hissed, her mind racing trying to find a way to diffuse this situation. _Of course the first thing Loki would do on a diplomatic mission is kill a citizen…_ she thought grimly.

"Y-you…" the apparent leader of the men stammered, "you're the one off the telly, with them aliens flying about, blowing up New York!"

The other man, who hadn't said a word the whole time, simply turned and ran after hearing his friend's observation. Loki gracefully flung his captive into the escapee, bowling them over and rendering them temporarily immobile.

Loki advanced on the only man left standing and adopted his most intimidating power stance. "If any of you breathe one word of my presence to anyone, I will hunt you down and cause you such pain that you will wish you had never been born into this pitiful realm." His eyes burned green in the darkness. "After all, I am a god, am I not?"

That was enough for the lone standing man. He lept over his struggling comrades and disappeared into the trees. Once the other two men got to their feet, they were right behind him, Loki's laughter hot on their heels.

" _A god_?" Jane said incredulously. "Just because our ancestors were confused about your origin thousands of years ago doesn't mean-"

"Well _they_ didn't deny it, did they?" Loki chuckled, nodding at the figures of the men fading into the trees.

Jane narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to argue her point further when Ada cut her off. "Thank you for not killing that man, Loki," she said somewhat weakly through her teeth. "You showed… _tremendous_ restraint. Right, Jane?"

" _Restraint_?! How hard is it to not-" At the sight of Loki's proud smile, Jane stopped short and groaned. "Good going, Loki, way to be a model citizen," she grumbled. "Can we go now? I am _freezing_."

A shiver ran through Ada's core at Jane's words, goosebumps prickling her skin. She had been so preoccupied by the altercation that she hadn't even registered how cold it was. "God, it _is_ cold… welcome back to fall in England, I guess," she said, rubbing her hands on her arms as she watched the cloud generated by her breath dissipate. She plucked her bundle of Halloween costume off of one of Loki's trunks. "Do you want to borrow my cape?"

"While that question _shouldn't_ sound weird after spending two weeks in Asgard, it still kind of does," Jane chuckled. "Anyway, I think I'm alright, though I wouldn't mind some company walking back to my apartment. Lord knows I don't want to run into any more drunks tonight, and I wouldn't doubt that somebody's probably broken into my place and taken all of my scientific equipment and sold it on eBay- hey, did you notice it's night time? It was day when we left Asgard, probably around 10 in the morning. I wonder what the time difference is between galaxies? Is that even an issue? Given the duration of our time in the Einstein-Rosen Bridge…"

"Easy there, professor," Ada interrupted. "You can write all your theories down in your notebooks, which I'm sure _haven't_ been stolen, when you get home. Anyway-"

She lost her train of thought after a thump and a growl of frustration sounded to her left. Turning to find the source of the noise, she found a rather exasperated-looking Loki resting his fist on one of the trunks. When he noticed her gaze, his expression morphed into one of indifference. He crossed his arms and cast his eyes toward the trees, avoiding hers. "It appears Odin's binding of my magic applies even to simple levitation spells," he half-mumbled, half-growled.

Jane snorted as Ada's face scrunched up with concern. "So, er… how are we going to get these trunks back to my place, then?" she asked with a sigh that she hoped didn't sound patronizing. There was no way the three of them could ever hope to lug all this stuff all the way back to her flat, even if it was only a few blocks away.

In response, Loki kicked the corner of the trunk he had previously punched. To Ada and Jane's surprise, this triggered a high-pitched whirring sound and the glow of flames at each of the four corners of the trunk, which proceeded to lift off the ground several inches. "Do you think Asgardians are so ill-prepared that our luggage does not have its own transport mechanisms?" he asked with some surprise.

"Well why didn't you use those in the first place?" Ada said, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to do everything with magic."

Jane's eyes had grown large and round as she watched the trunk hover evenly. As Loki kicked the second trunk and its tiny engines whizzed to life, she gripped Ada's sleeve and whispered urgently, " _I want one!_ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So this is your abode?" Loki asked with a smirk, looking up at the five stories of windows that made up Ada's flat building. "It doesn't look nearly as modest as you would have me believe!"

Ada looked up at the grey stone building with him and couldn't help but laugh at his question. "I wish all this was my abode. I make do with a bathroom and a bedroom-living room-kitchen amalgamation that I really don't think you'll appreciate," she said, the humor that was in her laugh noticeably absent from her voice. "Let's get this over with."

It was a miracle that somehow her keys had made it to Asgard and back in the pocket of her woolen dress, and Ada thanked the stars that they had. It was no use thanking gods, she thought, when she was in the presence of one who would probably rejoice more in the loss of her keys than their recovery.

Loki's trunks were not difficult to lift up onto the narrow stairwell that led to her third floor apartment, but they were difficult to maneuver once they were there- they were, not surprisingly, too wide to fit normally. However, Loki turned them onto their corners with one finger, and more little engines began to whir on previously dormant corners, allowing the luggage to be very carefully transported to just outside Ada's door.

Ada fumbled with her keys and giggled nervously as Loki waited. "Look, Loki, I really think you might be better in a hotel, I mean, at least you would have a reliable shower and a bed that's not older than the founding of the United States," she babbled, pleading with him once more before she opened the door.

Her nerves were slightly calmed by the feeling of his cool hand on her already cold shoulder. "My place is with you," he said matter-of-factly. "Besides, though I often hesitate to say it, how bad can it be?"

"You should've kept hesitating," Ada grumbled as she turned her key in the lock and opened her door.

Though the room was clean, there wasn't much to it; a small, shabby couch butted up to the end of a small, slightly less shabby bed, with a window to the left. To the right was a door to the bathroom, in front of the couch was a tiny television on a rickety black table, and beyond that was what barely could be called a kitchen- a stove, a sink, and a small cabinet.

And every inch of wall space was taken up by books upon books, stacked upon shelves of questionable integrity.

"I should've kept hesitating," Loki said quietly, in awe for all the wrong reasons.

"London is an expensive place," Ada said in her own defense, though she had anticipated his reaction. She stepped through the door and into a small hill of mail that had piled up in her absence. Wincing, she gingerly flipped the switch nearest to the door, her face lighting up at the same time as the lamp on the ceiling did. "Yay, they haven't cut off my electricity yet!" she said, mostly to herself.

" _They_? Who are _they_ , and why would they turn off your electricity?" Loki demanded. "What kind of barbarous, primitive-"

Ada gently held up a hand to silence him. "I can explain the nuances of capitalism sometime later," she said. "For now… let's see if we can fit your trunks in here without creating a violation of the fire code."

She saw Loki mouth the words "fire code" with a confused look on his face, before shaking his head and turning to retrieve his luggage. Ada swept up her mail into what could pass as a stack. _Sure is a lot of mail for just two weeks of being away…_ she thought, her stomach churning. _What day even…?_

"Do excuse me, sweetling," Loki whispered seductively into her ear. Goosebumps raced up her back and she quickly stepped to the side, out of the way, watching quietly as Loki skillfully arranged his floating trunks. With a wave of his hand, they banged to the floor, causing Ada to jump and wince.

"Oh god, my downstairs neighbors are gonna murder me…" she groaned, placing a hand to her head.

"Let them come," Loki said with a sarcastic grin. "I shall defend you to the last." He snaked his hand up Ada's back beneath her cape, and she quivered, finding herself suddenly feeling slightly bashful.

She skipped away from his touch with a nervous laugh, glancing around the room. "So, er, about sleeping arrangements…" she stammered, avoiding his eyes. "You can have the bed, and I'll sleep on the sofa. I think that's the first thing I'll buy with my gold, a new, big bed…" she trailed off.

Loki took a step towards her. "Why are you so coy now, my dear? Have we not shared the same bed _many_ times before?" he said, his voice implying a bit more than "sharing".

"Well, yeah, but…" Ada fumbled for words. "Your bed was so much bigger, and I don't want you to be cramped and uncomfortable with me next to you, and…" She was at a loss. Why _was_ she being so hesitant? There was just something that did not sit well with her on a basic level about sleeping next to Loki in such a… _modest_ piece of furniture.

Loki, taking note of her confused discomfort, shrugged. "Suit yourself then, my dear," he said, turning on his heal and walking the rest of the short distance to the bed. He patted it in an effort to look nonchalant, but was unable to conceal a sneer at the feel of it. Nonetheless, he sat down. "Have you extra blankets? It appears your couch is open to the elements, and I would hate for you to get cold."

"Have I…?" Ada's eyebrows slowly raised in realization. "That's it? You're just taking my bed then?"

Loki's eyebrows raised in turn. "Well, you offered it to me, didn't you?"

"Well, yes!" Ada said indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. "I was just- kind of thinking-"

"You were utilizing that infernal Midgardian practice of offering me something in expectation of me refusing it, correct?" Loki said smoothly. "I have seen Jane take advantage of my br- _Thor_ \- in this way several times, and he, being the honorable oaf he is, played along. But I assure you, sweetling, that I am not that easy to fool." He grinned triumphantly, proud to have outsmarted Ada at her own game.

Ada placed a hand to her forehead, and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a smile. "No, you're not, I suppose," she chuckled, crossing to the bed and sitting next to him. "I think the issue here isn't your quick thinking, but your consideration for others."

"Oh, but I have certainly considered _you_ ," Loki purred.

He performed some series of arm motions and Ada suddenly found herself on her back, staring up at a very smug god. "And now you're in bed, aren't you? And much more comfortable than you would've been had I not intervened."

"Oh yes, thank you," Ada guffawed. "My knight in shining armor."

Loki's expression immediately became clouded with confusion and a hint of annoyance, which Ada dispelled with a brief kiss. She patted him on the cheek in an exaggerated manner. "I'll explain tomorrow," she said softly, her eyes twinkling.

Loki smirked and lowered his lips to hers.


	2. Chapter 2

Author’s note: The letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the _th_ in the word _them_

 

               Ada woke with a start to banging on her front door. It took her a long moment to re-orient herself; this was not her room in Asgard, with its tall windows and almost shockingly comfortable bed (which the metal spring sticking into her bottom through her cheap mattress painfully confirmed), but her old London studio flat.

               “Adal-rin... Aydul… _Ms. Paulsen_ , open up! This is the police!” a deep cockney-accented voice called from the hallway. The order was followed by further pounding on the door.

               In her shock and disorientation at being awoken by the police, the absolute mangling of her first name only vaguely occurred to Ada. She leapt out from under the sheets, not appreciating how stiff her body was from sleeping on such a small bed with a bedmate, and promptly stumbled over her own feet. She was only saved from falling by clutching one of said bedmate’s overly tall pieces of luggage. “Coming!” she called, steadying herself.

               “Somehow, this is less pleasant by being woken by the maids,” Loki’s silkily calm voice remarked from behind her.

               As she clamoured around the other luggage items, Ada cast a glare over her shoulder, a look which quickly turned to befuddlement at the sight of him. Shirtless, he lounged on the thin pillows seductively, aesthetically sticking out like a sore thumb. The contrast between the setting and his otherworldly beauty was very close to comical.

               Ada was broken from her reverie by another round of hammering at her door. “Ms. Paulsen, we will be forced to break down the door if you don’t answer!”

               “ _I’m coming_ , give me a second!” she snapped, side-stepping around the final piece of Asgardian luggage. She disengaged the door’s stiff deadbolt and tugged the door open to find three uniformed police officers… and her landlady.

               “Er, hello officers…” Ada said weakly. “Can I help you?”

               “Your landlady here thought you was dead, on account of you skipping your last two months of rent,” one of the officers said. “She’s none too pleased.”

               “ _That’s an understatement_!” the portly landlady said in a shrill voice, barging through the three officers. “You’d better have a damn good explanation, as well as what you owe me, or I’m throwing you and your things out of my flat!”

               “I’m so sorry Mrs. Graham, it was an honest mistake!” Ada said breathlessly. _Two months?_ “I had a, um, family emergency and I had to leave suddenly… ah, would you mind telling me what day it is?”

               Mrs. Graham narrowed her eyes at Ada, who was doing her best to look pitiful. “It’s December 17th, and your rent is overdue by two months, fifteen days, seven hours and-“

               “I’m _so sorry_ Mrs. Graham, I promise I’ll do the bank transfer today!” Ada said, her mind racing. It was late October when she and Jane were taken to Asgard, and no matter how she looked at it, they had only been there for two weeks, not two _months_. She wondered what Jane would make of this time discrepancy.

               “That money had better be in my account by 5pm, or it’ll be the debt collectors pounding on your door tomorrow morning!” the landlady growled.

               “Y-yes ma’m!” Ada responded, her voice quivering. Mrs. Graham kept her eyes on her as she slowly closed the door.

               “Was that a _threat_?” Loki’s voice hissed from beside her. She jumped at his sudden close proximity, and turned to look at him. His expression was a mix of disdain and amusement.

               Ada covered her eyes with her hand. “Sure was. I guess I deserved it though. Two months?!”

               Loki shrugged nonchalantly, evidently not to concerned with any danger a debt collector might pose. “Time moves differently in each realm. I believe there is a formula for how to calculate the relative flow of time from realm to realm, but I have never found it particularly useful or interesting.”

               “Tell that to Jane,” Ada chuckled, beginning to weave back through the maze of Loki’s trunks. “Gosh, I bet she would kill to- oop!”

               Without warning, Loki swept Ada off her feet and into his arms, gracefully navigating around the remaining luggage. He seemed to be heading in the direction of the bathroom.

               “Hey, woah, what-“ Ada stuttered before fixing him with a glare. “Put me down! What are you _doing_?”

               Hearing the seriousness in her voice, Loki raised an eyebrow and lowered her to the ground. “As we were unable to be intimate last night, due to your…” Loki rubbed a spot on his lower back and winced dramatically, “… _Quite understandable_ reservations about the structural integrity of your bed, and since we have not truly been together since the conflict in Asgard, I had rather thought we might enjoy each other’s company in your shower-“

               “Let me stop you there,” Ada cut in, holding up a finger. “First of all, if you thought my bed was bad, you should see my shower! Secondly, I need to pay Mrs. Graham so we and your luggage aren’t out on the street tomorrow, and thirdly, don’t you have some research to be preparing for?”

               Loki gave her a sour look before casting his eyes to the corner of the room. “You _are_ right, of course,” he grumbled, his words touched with sarcasm. “I would hate to waste any of our precious time actually enjoying ourselves. How could I be so foolish?”

               Ada set her mouth into a thin line and rolled her eyes. “You weren’t sent here to… to…” her cheeks colored as she made vague motions with her hands, “… with me all day! The sooner you get started, the sooner you can go back, right?”

               Loki huffed and grudgingly walked back to Ada’s unmade bed, crossing his arms over his bare chest as he sat down on the rumpled sheets. Ada wondered if her words had been too harsh… it was uncomfortable having Loki in her apartment, and he had only been there for several hours so far (and most of those they had been asleep). Loki, who she had only ever seen in the splendid setting of Asgard, seemed sorely out of place in her studio flat, the site of many late nights of academic writing and analysis. No maids or beautiful wardrobes or balconies were to be found here, just unwashed coffee mugs and an unfinished thesis. Loki’s presence seemed to shine a light on the shortcomings of Ada’s life as a starving academic, and even with a trunk full of gold, she doubted she could ever create anything that compared to her room in the palace.

               She tried to push all of that to the back of her mind as Loki fixed her with his twinkling green eyes. “Perhaps we will do some work, and then we shall see where we find ourselves,” he said, uncrossing his arms. He tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. “I suppose you may show me around this city… London, is it?”

               Ada chuckled under her breath at his haughty tone, which made it sound as though he had given her the honor of taking him sight-seeing. But it wouldn’t be that easy.

               “Did your fath-“ the word caught in Ada’s throat. She cleared it and continued. “Did the Allfather give any indication of how you’re supposed to walk the streets of London without causing a major military operation? You’re very… recognizable.” She winced slightly. “And not in a good way.”

               Loki, on the other hand, beamed with pride. “Oh, I am aware,” he practically purred. “I did come close to ruling this world, did I not?”

               Ada’s wince became a grimmace. “That’s exactly the problem,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “I don’t know much about espionage, but I’m fairly certain the American government has its eyes and ears ready to pick up on any sign of the world’s most wanted criminal.” When she put it like that, all the trepidation she felt about Loki those weeks ago in Asgard came flooding back, amplified significantly by her first-hand experience of his scheming nature. Even when not being manipulated by outside forces, as he had evidently been in New York, Loki had still managed to kill a number of people in Asgard and nearly bring about the end of the world in the name of claiming a throne.

               And now here he was in her apartment, having declared his devotion to her several times. This man­— no, this alien… god?—who had caused so much destruction simply perched on her shabby bed, apparently impervious to the fact that some of the most powerful governments on planet Earth were surely interested in apprehending him. Ada suddenly felt ill.

               She plopped down on one of Loki’s trunks and put her palm to her forehead. She felt him silently regarding her, assessing the situation before he elected his next words.

               “Loki, I don’t know if I’m cut out for this,” Ada finally sighed. “Asgard felt like a dream, but this is real life now, _my_ life.” She shook her head slightly, a lump forming in her throat. “How do I go about aiding an extra-terrestrial fact-finding mission, when it’s being carried out by a war criminal? How am I supposed to feel about my _feelings_ for a war criminal? How am I supposed... to keep you safe?”

               Ada bit her lip and closed her eyes to prevent any further emotional spillage. She heard Loki emanate a low rumble before standing and crossing the short distance to the trunk upon which she sat, easing himself down slowly into the empty space to her right. Through her moist eyelashes, she watched one of his hands come to rest lightly on her knee.

               “Aðalrun,” Loki began quietly. “Your life and my life… they are connected now, whether we meant them to be or not. We-”

               “I know, I saw it in Yggdrasil,” Ada cut him off with a slight huff. She wiped one of her eyes roughly, trying to better crystalize the distorted memory. Witnessing a physical manifestation of how she and Loki’s lives interacted was overwhelming, but imagining it somehow made her feel more confident in the context of her current situation. She sighed. “I just somehow never pictured us being _connected_ here in my awful little apartment, being concerned that we’ll both be arrested the minute we step out the door.”

               “Hm,” Loki chuckled quietly, patting her knee. “It is awful.”

               Ada couldn’t help but snort at his matter-of-fact tone.

               Grinning, he stood and continued. “But really, you needn’t be concerned for me! Did you honestly think I would risk being captured by Thor’s Midgardian comrades or anyone else? I have come prepared, pet!”

               Ada watched with curiosity as Loki, with his back to her, unlocked the tallest of his three trunks, opening it wide to reveal a surprising amount of clothes. Nestled amongst some hanging tunics was a small drawer which he pulled open with a soft click, extracting a dark object which Ada could not quite make out from her vantage point. Loki carefully brought the object up to his face and spun on his heel to face her.

               It was sunglasses. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

               Loki grumbled as he followed a visibly nervous Ada down the road to the nearest Underground station. “Again, Aðalrun, this eyewear is enchanted,” he sighed. “The only reason you can still recognize me is because you are more attuned to magic now. To everyone else, I look just like any other lowly Midgardian.”

               “I know, I know,” she responded curtly, adjusting her purse. “I’m a bit more concerned that I’m carrying a bag full of gold onto public transport.”

               “You know you have no reason to fear for your safety with me by your side, pet,” Loki chuckled. “Particularly not from any Midgardian rogues. If that lot last night was anything to go by, the average thief in your world is quite stupid indeed.”

               “Still,” Ada puffed, trying to discretely scan the crowd around them as they entered the station, “I don’t know why you’re so interested in modern banking. Sure, there’s a lot involved with it technologically, but wouldn’t dissecting a computer or something be a better first step in your research?”

               Loki ignored her as he watched Londoners and tourists pass through the electronic gates into the station proper, tapping their wallets or their phones on the scanners to open the barriers. Ada watched him watching them, curious to see what he would make of his first foray into Midgardian public transport. The outfit he had selected from his wardrobe hardly looked like that of the average London commuter—a long leather jacket bordered with golden clips hung open over a high-collared green shirt, styled to look as though it was braided together with strips of cloth. He finished off his look with a pair of black leather trousers and the same overly ostentatious gold and black boots he wore with his dress armor.

               All in all, it could’ve been much worse; Ada demanded he not wear a breastplate out in public, as even with his enchanted sunglasses, that would’ve just been a bit much. As it stood, Loki simply looked like he had stumbled out of some version of _The Matrix_ that happened to be set in the time of the Vikings. Not ideal, considering the people of London were bundled up against the English winter weather, but better than a suit of armor.

               Speaking of which, Ada was beginning to get overheated standing in the warm station in her puffy winter coat. She tugged Loki by the sleeve, leading him to a row of machines standing on the far wall. “C’mon, we need to get you an Oyster card first. Can’t have you getting arrested for dodging-“

               “Aðalrun?!” a female voice called through the crowd of commuters. Ada tensed up and pushed Loki in the direction of the machines, hoping the redheaded girl elbowing her way towards them wouldn’t notice his presence.

               “K-Katya, hi!” Ada stuttered, waving at the girl meekly. “How are you doing? I didn’t know you were in town, isn’t it winter break?”

               Katya cocked her head, her shoulder-length flame red hair bouncing in response. She pushed a thick pair of glasses up the freckled bridge of her nose. “Ada, your Russian is so good now! Have you been taking lessons?”

               Ada felt the color drain from her face. _The Alltongue_ , she thought with dismay. _How am I supposed to explain this? If only I could…_

               Her eyes lit up as she hit upon what she hoped would be a solution. “Um, yeah!” she forced a chuckle. “But I’m still practicing… could we speak in English?”

               Katya cocked her head in the other direction, raising an eyebrow this time. “Uh… I guess?” Katya said slowly.

               Ada hoped that short phrase would be enough to help her convince her mind that Katya’s first language was English, as Loki had done with her in Asgard with the Proto-Norse elicitations. She took a deep breath. “How is your research going? You’ve got to be close to finishing your last chapter now!”

               “Ah-ha, actually, I was hoping I could use a quote from your thesis in my summary,” Katya said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. “I wanted to tie my element on loanwords back to Proto-Norse, but I don’t think you’ve published the particular section I’m interested in. Would you mind if I stopped by sometime to have a read of it?”

               Ada’s heart swelled at the prospect of getting a citation, and she felt her stomach uncoil with relief that the Alltongue trick seemed to have worked. She gave Katya a wide grin. “Of course! What time would work for you? I’m just-“

               She then caught sight of Loki out of the corner of her eye- he was still loitering by the Oyster machines- and her insides descended back into turmoil. She couldn’t exactly have Katya over when her apartment was full of godly luggage and the god that went with it.

               “Er, actually, how about I just send you the .pdf? It’s kind of big, but it would be faster than you coming to see it in person!” Ada spouted nervously, hugging the puffy sleeves of her coat for comfort. “Ha ha, anyway, it was nice to see you but I have to buy an Oyster card and catch a train and run some errands, see you again soon bye!”

               Ada spun on her heel and marched with purpose into the crush of commuters, avoiding looking back over her shoulder at Katya. Arriving at the machine by which Loki stood, she made an extremely quick transaction, retrieved the card, and all but dragged Loki through the turnstiles and down the tunnel towards the trains.

               “What was that?” Loki asked, unable (or unwilling) to hide the amusement in his voice. “A friend of yours, perhaps?”

               “Fellow PhD candidate,” Ada all but wheezed. She unzipped her coat to cool down, literally and figuratively. She leaned against the tunnel wall and continued, “She wanted to stop by to look at some of my work, but I didn’t think she’d appreciate my houseguest.”

               “Ha!” Loki laughed loudly, the sound echoing through the tunnel. “Keeping our romance a secret, are we? Just like old times!”

               Ada rolled her eyes and grinned in spite of herself. She hooked her arm through his and led him toward the escalator. “And now, just like old times, we’re going to focus on research. Do they have moving stairs in Asgard?”

               Loki looked down the steep escalator, hesitating. A Londoner in a hurry shoved past him. “Actually,” he said, his brow knitting behind his sunglasses, “I don’t believe we do.”

               Ada steered him out of the way of another commuter, laughing so loudly that it caused people to glare at her. “Well, prepare for the ride of your life!”

               A security camera focused on them as they descended the escalator.

 

\----------------------------------------------------

PS: Well hello there, everyone! Long time no see! I said I’d be back with more Loki and Ada, didn’t I? Well, two masters degrees later, here we are! This story is called _Silver Tongue, Golden Tongue: The Bill Comes Due._ (Title not in reference to Ada’s altercation with the landlady, that’s just a happy[?] accident). Enjoy, and please comment! I love hearing what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Loki slowly paced around the Harrod’s Bank office while Ada shifted uncomfortably in her plush leather chair. The office was appointed to the standard that one would expect of the world’s leading luxury company: minimalist, but with every well-placed piece of décor oozing opulence. It was almost a parody of the palace in Asgard.

“They certainly are taking their time,” Loki drawled. “When I was last in Midgard, you humans would kill each other for a single gold piece. And now these _bankers_ waste our precious time deciding if they want a bag full of them? This will be an interesting report indeed.”

Ada sighed. “I told you, it’s because I’m exchanging them for money. They want to make sure they’re not counterfeit-“

“But they _are_ money,” Loki interrupted, exasperated. He lifted his enchanted sunglasses up to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“Loki, you can’t spend ancient alien gold coins at the grocery store,” Ada said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “We have paper money now, and coins made of cheaper metals. And credit cards and debit cards, which you can use in place of cash.”

“You would rather have worthless scraps of paper and metal than gold now? Astonishing.” Loki lowered his sunglasses, though they did nothing to hide the disdain on his face.

Both of their heads whipped up when the office door opened again. A pudgy, short bearded man in a suit waddled into the office and sat behind the desk, trailed all the way by a lanky blond clerk. The bearded man set one of Ada’s gold coins on a black mat on the desk, placing his meaty elbows behind it and arranging his sausage-like fingers into a steeple in front of his face. “And how many of these did you say you inherited, madam?” he asked smoothly.

Ada glanced at Loki before answering. “Um… about a thousand?” she said without much certainty. “But I have fifty of them with me today.”

“Hm,” the chubby man said. He clearly had his poker face on. “And you told my associate that your father, a history buff, had them minted into these faux-Viking designs?”

Ada nodded in confirmation. She was fairly certain she would be breaking some cultural heritage law by selling the coins as _actual_ Viking gold, so she had embellished the truth. They looked brand new anyway; after sitting untouched in Asgard’s treasury for centuries, they didn’t show much wear.

“Hm,” the chubby man repeated, turning the gold coin over on the mat. “Well, your father invested wisely. If all of your coins were struck from the same ingot, you’ve got fifty 24-carat coins here.”

Ada’s throat tightened. _Fifty pure gold Viking coins… this isn’t suspicious at all_ , she thought.

“Our specialist would have to test all one thousand of them to be certain of their quality, of course,” the man went on, ignoring a loud and pointed throat-clearing from Loki on the other side of the room. He slid open a drawer and pulled out a calculator that was probably worth more than all the contents of Ada’s apartment, punching in numbers as he continued. “Factoring in the time the testing would take, as well as our commission and taxes, Harrod’s would be prepared to offer you the following figure for your collection.” He turned the calculator to face Ada.

Ada could feel her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, though she could do nothing to stop them. She gripped the arms of her chair for dear life. “Th-that’s… a lot of zeroes…” she laughed weakly.

“Pending the testing, of course,” the man said, peering at her over his folded hands. Although his skinny assistant also seemed a bit shocked by the number, he kept his face blank but professional. Ada hoped that Loki was appreciating the man’s masterful composure from afar; she wondered what a conversation between the two would be like.

“Are you pleased with our offer, madam?” the man prompted, bringing her back to reality. “If you are, I have some paperwork for you.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Ada splurged on a cab ride home, feeling invigorated by her soon-to-be wealth. It was much quicker than the Tube, and she had looked forward to pointing out landmarks to Loki, though he seemed too preoccupied to enjoy a tour.

Loki took Ada’s arm on the short walk to her apartment building’s front door, still looking thoughtful.

“Still befuddled about the money-versus-gold thing?” she asked as they began to climb the first flight of stairs. “I’m not an expert on… monetary value? The gold standard? I’m not even sure what would answer your question!” she chuckled. “We can do some research when we get upstairs. I’ll hit Google, see what I can find.”

“Goo… gle,” Loki repeated, a look of confusion crossing his face. It was quickly replaced with a smirk. “No, I am confident that I will be able to understand your monetary system without much trouble, as soon as I find out the root of your transition from valuing things of actual worth to prizing paper over gold. But that banker… I believe he has some Asgardian blood,” Loki said, rubbing his chin absent-mindedly. “I could hardly see his magic, but there were vestiges of it about him, in the same way that it was around you when we first met.”

“Not Bragi again?” Ada asked, hiking an eyebrow. “Was the banker my 5th cousin three times removed or something?”

“No, not Bragi…” Loki said quietly, shaking his head. “The magic is familiar, but I can’t quite place it…”

Ada shrugged and dug through her purse to retrieve her keys. “Do all Asgardian descendants have magic that you can see, or can you only see it when they’re descended from someone particularly magical?” she asked, unlocking her door.

Loki chuckled. “Yes, all Midgardian offspring of wayward Asgardians carry traces of magic with them. Even the descendants of the most lowly Einherjar are surrounded by magic, if they are not too many generations removed from their Asgardian heritage.” He slipped his sunglasses off as he stepped through the door behind Ada. “There were actually several such individuals on the… _tyoob_ this morning.” He pronounced the word uncertainly. “I have a feeling that Odin will find this observation quite interesting, given that there has been a ban on fraternization with Midgardians for the past eight centuries.”

Ada laughed, closing the door and leaning back against it. She felt mischievous after such a productive morning. “Fraternization, eh? I guess we’re breaking the law then?” She caught Loki’s eyes and grinned.

Loki immediately picked up on her mood and advanced on her slowly, a predatory smile parting his lips. He placed his hand on the door above her head and leaned down, his face so close to hers that she could feel his skin’s natural coolness. “My dear,” he purred, “isn’t that part of the fun?”

Loki caught Ada’s lips with his own, slipping his other hand up her neck to cradle her cheek. Ada smiled into the kiss and unzipped her coat, tossing it into a corner before wrapping her arms around Loki’s torso.

A knock on the door behind them caused their teeth to crash together, and they quickly separated with a groan.

“What in the Nine Realms does someone want _now_?” Loki growled, touching his upper lip gently. “Have you no privacy here?”

Ada made a low grumble and looked through the peep hole. At the sight of Katya’s mass of red hair, she sighed heavily. “It’s the girl I met earlier at the station, she wants some work of mine,” she whispered. “Just… just stand behind the door until I get her to go away.” She shooed him in the right direction, though he looked less than amused at having to conceal himself.

She snatched a loose stack of papers off the top of a pile of books, flipping through them quickly as she opened the door a crack. “Katya, hi!” Ada said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. She stuck the papers through the crack in the door. “I’m kinda busy right now, but I think this is the part that you’ll be interested in-“

“Oh no, I’m sorry to bother you!” Katya said, although her words directly contradicted her actions—she pushed the door open firmly and took several steps inside, much to Ada’s shock and concern. “I just wanted to see if you still had that book from the library too-“ She drew a sharp breath as her eyes came to rest on the open casket of gold, which Ada quickly kicked shut.

“Can we talk about it tomorrow? We could meet for coffee or something,” Ada said through gritted teeth, willing Katya to back out the front door rather than turn around to see Loki’s poorly concealed figure.

“Really Ada, your Russian has gotten so good!” Katya laughed. “Yes, that would be great!”

Ada twisted her mouth into some approximation of a smile. She stepped towards Katya, hoping that her proximity would encourage her to step back out the door. “Okay, I’ll text you later!” she said stiffly.

Of course, Katya turned around to leave, rather than take a step back. Ada’s heart dropped as she saw her jump in surprise at Loki’s dark, glowering figure. “Ah, ha ha, sorry, that’s my… boyfriend…” she said quietly. “Like I said, we’re kind of busy-“

Katya kicked the door shut in a fluid motion, almost more quickly than Ada’s eyes could follow. She dropped her purse and whipped off her mittens, exposing a pair of fingerless black gloves. She flicked her thumbs against her palms and the gloves sparked to life, currents of electricity surging through them.

Before Ada even had a chance to question this, Katya lunged at Loki, catching him completely off guard. She leapt and wrapped her legs around his middle, slamming him into the wall, and dug her hands into the crook of his neck. As his body became limp from electrocution, Katya untangled herself from him with the grace of a gymnast, landing to face Ada.

“Loki!” Ada screamed, rushing towards Loki’s limp body. “Katya, god, what are you _doing_?!”

“Sorry Ada,” she said, her voice devoid of emotion. “But harbouring this creature was a mistake.”

In a flash, Katya was behind Ada, holding her in a headlock and restraining her hands behind her back. Ada gasped and struggled against her, feeling something metallic clamp around her wrists. Her legs were kicked out from under her and she fell to the ground.

Katya stepped over her and knelt beside the still paralyzed Loki, gathering his wrists into cuffs as well. Ada rose to her knees, watching her colleague in horror. “Katya, why did you…? How did you know…?” she stammered.

Loki coughed and lifted his head weakly, his eyes following Katya as she stood. “I think you’ll find, Aðalrun,” he wheezed, “that your Katya is not who she claims to be.”

“Apparently!” Ada responded under her breath, watching Katya’s every move closely. “What do you want here, Katya?” she asked more loudly. “You can have the gold if you want, just take it and let us go!”

Katya let out a single, harsh laugh, and scratched her nose with an index finger. “Not the worst bargain I’ve been offered, but no. I have a job to do.”

She drew a gossamer thread, no thicker than a spider’s web, from the tip of her nose, and pulled it roughly away from her face. Her features seemed to melt grotesquely outwards to follow the thread, before shimmering and decomposing to a series of roughly rendered pixels as the face fell away from her head.

“Natasha Romanov,” Loki puffed, with as much of a chuckle as he could muster. “The mewling—“

The insult never escaped his mouth, as Natasha kicked him squarely across the jaw. “All responders, I can confirm we have a Code Green, I repeat, Code Green,” she barked, momentarily pressing two fingers to her ear. “Strange, advise when you’re in position!”

Ada recognized the spy from the coverage of the attack on New York, despite the fact that many of the newscasts placed more focus on her male counterparts. Struggling against her cuffs, she cried out, “Please don’t hurt him! He’s here on a mission from Asgard, and he doesn’t even have his magic right now!”

Natasha’s eyes glazed over as she turned to face her fully. Ada panted and was still for a moment, slowly coming to the realization that she must’ve affected her with her verbal magic. She spoke her next words calmly. “Please call them off.”

Natasha began to slowly raise her hand back to her ear piece when her blank face contorted into a grimace. Her wits returned, and she pressed the communicator of her own will, advancing on Ada as she did. “There are two of them, my source has turned accomplice,” she said, hauling Ada up roughly by the front of her shirt. Lifting off of her communicator, she held Ada’s face inches from her own. “You stay out of my head, Paulsen,” she growled, “Or I’ll blow yours off.”

Ada didn’t have a chance to respond before Natasha flung her to the ground. She landed awkwardly on her bound hands and yelped in pain.

Loki, slowly regaining control over his body, struggled to push himself up off the ground. “Leave her be, Miss Romanoff. She has nothing to do with me,” he said, a great deal of effort going into making his still-hoarse voice sound calm and silky smooth.

Natasha gave another harsh laugh before fishing some sort of metallic device from her pocket. It vaguely resembled a diving respirator. She kicked Loki across the face, causing him to flop onto his back, and, kneeling again, she planted the device over his mouth. “You keep that silver tongue to yourself, you son of a bitch,” she said darkly as the device whirred and clicked, extending a band around the back of his head.

Loki glared daggers at her, a low growling sound coming from behind his muzzle. She tore herself away from admiring her work to press her communicator again, nodding slightly. “Roger,” she said, standing. “Sling ‘em, Strange.”

Ada had just gotten back up to her knees, only to be confronted with a wheel of sparks that engulfed Loki and Natasha, before surrounding her as well.

 


	4. Chapter 4

It took a moment for Ada’s eyes to adjust after being faced with the brightness of the sparking portal, but even when they did, she was not entirely sure what she was seeing. For the most part, it seemed to be a large, well-appointed room with lovely wood floors; however, it seemed to be fractured somehow, as though she were viewing it through a broken window.

“Welcome, Asgardians,” a male, American-accented voice said from behind her, “to the Mirror Dimension!” There was a hint of mischief in the voice that almost reminded her of Loki.

Ada sighed, carefully trying to shift on her knees to turn towards the voice. She thought she was done with mistaken identities after Asgard. “Not Asgardian,” she said, trying to keep any undue exasperation out of her voice, “just a ling…”

She was unable to continue, faced with the spectacle of the owner of the voice. Dressed in a blue tunic that hung to his knees over blue trousers and knee high leather boots, and wearing more belts than was probably necessary, the man smirked knowingly at her. His sharply trimmed beard lent an almost architectural look to his face. A long, high-collared crimson cape seemed to billow about him of its own accord, oblivious to the stillness of the room, and was fixed to his shoulders around a large golden amulet shaped like an eye. All in all, he was an extremely strange sight.

Ada’s shock must have showed on her face, because the man’s smirk was quickly replaced by a look of mild irritation. “Oh, come on, I’ve seen how you Asgardians dress,” he said with a huff, brushing his cape back with a gloved hand. “This is nothing compared to flying around with a hammer and a horned helmet.”

Loki emitted something like a grunt behind her.

“That’s enough chit-chat, Strange,” Natasha said brusquely, walking past Ada. “The girl’s got powers too, I need that spare muzzle.”

The man she called Strange conjured a second metal muzzle with a circular gesture of his hands, causing Ada to jump. Who _was_ this guy, using magic but referring to them as Asgardians, as though he wasn’t one? Maybe he was another Asgardian descendant?

Natasha plucked the muzzle from Strange’s hand and took a step towards Ada, who fell backwards onto her bottom trying to keep her distance. “No, wait, please-“ she stammered, scooting herself backwards with her feet, “I don’t have- I mean, I _do_ have magic, sort of, but I don’t even really know how to use it yet, I mean I’ve never even had it before and-“

“All the more reason to keep your mouth shut,” Natasha cut her off, now approaching her more aggressively. She caught Ada by the front of her shirt and hauled her up off the ground, but was stopped just short of fitting the muzzle by a gloved hand on her shoulder.

“Wait, Miss Romanov,” he said quietly, fixing Ada with a cold gaze. “Didn’t you say that her M levels before and after her disappearance were vastly increased? Maybe she’s telling the truth.”

“That’s _Agent_ Romanov to you,” Natasha spat, briefly glaring at him before turning back to Ada. “And yes, I did measure a big difference on her this morning.”

“Ah, my apologies, _Agent Romanov_ ,” Strange chuckled quietly, withdrawing his hand. “I had gotten so used to calling you Miss when SHIELD was using you as a plant to worm your way into my Sanctum Sanctorum! And you were spying on this girl in London, too? At the same time? SHIELD should really invest in more agents--”

“What can I say, I’m good at multi-tasking,” Natasha interrupted. She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes at Ada, silently daring her to try any magic so she would have an excuse to fit her with the muzzle. When Ada did nothing but cringe fearfully in response, she simply dropped her.

Ada yelped as she landed painfully hard on her tailbone for the second or third time that day-- she had lost count. “So… now what?” she ventured, wincing as she got back up on her knees. “I mean, I can tell you whatever you need to know so you can understand that Loki’s not a threat any more… right now,” she added the last part under her breath. Natasha’s eyebrow inched up slightly at this, and she instantly regretted her aside. She shook her head and went on. “The point is, like I said, he’s here on a diplomatic mission. I heard Odin give the order myself! And I’m just… well, I _was_ just a linguist, but now… well, I guess I’m a bit more Asgardian than I was before I left, for a variety of reasons.”

Natasha and Strange seemed to take the information in stride, she placing her hands on her hips and he crossing his arms over his chest. They shared a brief look before turning back to Loki and Ada.

Loki emitted another strangled growl in response.

“Alright, you two,” Natasha sighed. “Sit tight. And don’t try anything stupid. Apparently, even if you _do_ try something stupid, it won’t have any effect on the outside world… but it would be awfully incriminating. We’ll be back shortly.”

She nodded to Strange, who held one hand up in front of him while making a swirling motion with the other. A sparking portal sprung to life, which Natasha stepped through, and he followed.

As the portal began to shrink, he poked just his head back through, nodding to Loki and Ada. “Doctor Stephen Strange, by the way,” he said with a smirk. “Pleasure.” He withdrew his head and the portal dissipated.

Ada exhaled deeply, hanging her head. “We weren’t even back 24 hours, and we’re already prisoners,” she said into the empty space. She repositioned herself to face Loki, who had evidently fully recovered from his electrocution and was sitting cross legged on the floor. He glowered at her.

“What, how was I supposed to know Katya was a spy?” Ada snapped. “I certainly recognised who she was when she _pulled her own face off_!”

Loki rolled his eyes as though she shouldn’t be shocked by her colleague being a super-spy. He turned away from her, his eyes darting about the fractured room. Ada wasn’t sure if he was just assessing his surroundings or plotting a means of escape. _Probably both_ , she thought to herself.

“Hm,” Loki said under his muzzle. He jutted his chin out towards Ada. “Hm mm.”

Ada looked over her shoulder before turning back to Loki, trying to figure out what he was gesturing at. “Um, I’m not sure what…?”

“Mmmnnnnng,” Loki grumbled, rolling his eyes again. He got up to his knees and shuffled in her direction, pressing his cool forehead against hers.

 _Take this DAMNED muzzle off of me!_ His voice rang through Ada’s mind. She jerked away from his touch in surprise.

“What…? How…?” she choked, looking around to make sure no one had heard Loki’s voice. This was an easy task, as there was nobody else in the room.

Loki bumped his head back against hers, meeting her eyes with a determined glare. _My magic is so far suppressed that all I can do is talk to you through direct contact. But I cannot stand having this muzzle on a moment longer! You still have command of your magic, use it to help me._

 _Use it to help me PLEASE_ , she thought back. The thought must’ve reached him, as his eyes crinkled slightly from smiling under his restraint.

 _Please_ , Loki’s voice purred seductively in Ada’s mind. She couldn’t help but chuckle.

However, his request was easier said (well, thought) than done. It would also be, as Natasha mentioned, quite incriminating. “I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea,” she said weakly.

At this, Loki’s brow furrowed, and his eyes briefly flashed with desperation, something he quickly concealed. _Aðalrun, please_ , he thought, the desperation much more apparent in his mental voice. _Please get this thing off me!_

The tone and earnestness of his request tied a knot of concern in Ada’s stomach. She had never seen Loki desperate… angry and petulant, sure, but never _desperate_. The presence of the muzzle was clearly not the only problem-- it seemed to be the stress of being restrained in general.

A sheen of sweat had appeared on Loki’s neck, highlighting the anxiety it was causing him.

“Okay, okay,” Ada said quickly, before switching to her internal voice. _Okay. Can you tell me how I can magic it off?_

His shoulders relaxed slightly at her acquiescence. _Talk to it, like you did when you rebounded my spell in Asgard_ , he thought, grimacing slightly at the memory. _There’s no one activation phrase to command your magic… which you would’ve known, had you finished that book I lent you in the palace_.

Ada scoffed. _Hey, that wasn’t my fault! If you recall, we were a bit… busy after you first lent it to me_.

 _True_ , Loki thought, his eyes crinkling again with an obscured smirk. Ada felt the knot in her stomach lessen at the return of his usual candour. _Now, do you remember the appearance of Bragi’s magic? See yourself commanding those threads of magic, using them as an extension of your will. A task this simple should not require a great deal of skill, particularly since your goal is to simply break the locking mechanism… and the Nine Realms would be hard pressed to find a race so adept at breaking things as Midgardians_.

 _Thanks for the vote of confidence_ , Ada thought as she pulled her face away from his. She squinted at the metal muzzle, thinking through what she should say to get it to release. Open? Relent? What would be most effective? Recalling her use of Proto-Norse when she rebounded Loki’s spell, she settled on <ólæsa>, “unlock”.

She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind, focusing on the word and willing her tongue to produce Proto-Norse rather than something filtered through the Alltongue. “Ó-læ-sa,” she said, focusing on each syllable. “Ólæsa!” She leaned closer to Loki and spoke the word with authority, her mouth only milimeters from the metal. “ _Ól_ _æsa_!”

A spark leapt from the muzzle to Ada’s lower lip, causing her to squeal in pain. She pressed her lips together, frowning at the device, before putting her forehead back to Loki’s. _What was that?_ She mentally asked. _Is this thing electric?_

 _It seems as though it was modelled on the Asgardian muzzle Thor placed me in before he… escorted me from Midgard last time_ , Loki thought back. _Perhaps electricity is being used in place of enchantment?_

Ada frowned. _I can only just barely do magic, I really can’t do electricity_ , she thought.

 _There is no difference_ , Loki thought in reply, impatience creeping into his mental voice. _It can be broken just like anything else_.

Ada hummed quietly and pulled away again. She imagined the circuit board that must be governing the muzzle and pictured white threads of magic working their way in and around the microchips, disrupting the current. The threads flowed out of the electronics and onto Loki’s face, pushing the restraint off and away. “Ólæsa,” she breathed, feeling the word move across her lips and flow as the magic threads did.

With a small buzz and a pop, the muzzle fell away.

Loki recoiled backward in response. “ _Grah_!” he exclaimed, shaking his head violently. He opened and shut his mouth several times before closing his eyes and heaving a sigh of relief. Ada watched him with interest.

“Thank you, Aðalrun, thank you,” he said softly. “When I was… between realms… before New York, when I was taught to use the sceptre…” His mouth twisted into a smirk, but his brows knitted, giving his face a look that was almost as disjointed as the room he and Ada were in. As he slowly opened his eyes, swirls of icy blue rolled across his emerald irises. “Let’s just say the muzzle was a bit too familiar for comfort,” he said in a velvety voice that sharply contrasted with the situation.

Ada swallowed hard, feeling her knot of worry return with a vengeance. “Loki, I’m… sorry, I didn’t know…” She spoke hesitantly, unsure of the right thing to say. “I knew you were influenced, _controlled_ , but—“

“Ah, but! But you have freed me, using very delicate magic I might add!” Loki chuckled, his smirk morphing into a smile that finally lifted his furrowed brow. His eyes were pure green once again. “I must compliment your work!”

Ada gave him a lopsided smile in response, both relieved and somewhat concerned at the sudden change of subject. She was proud of her work, but wished that she could’ve practiced her powers when not handcuffed and under pressure. “Yeah, well, breaking things…” she trailed off. She watched a new crack shimmer across the upper wall and another fade from across a table, which suddenly looked much less like it was out of a Dali painting.

“Speaking of which, what is this? Doctor Strange called it the Mirror Dimension?” she asked, finally able to take in the whole room. She hadn’t noticed it before, but the cracks seemed to be appearing and disappearing at semi-regular intervals, and in a vaguely circular direction.

“I will spare you any deflection, pet, and confess that I have never seen anything like this,” Loki said quietly, but with reverence. He cast his gaze about as well, following the cracks. “The magic that surrounded that man… it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen in any of the Nine Realms. And this place… wherever it is, I’m not certain it lies within Midgard, or even our universe.”

Ada gawked at him. “Ah,” she gave a withering sigh. “Of course. After coming back from an alien world and being given the responsibility of housing a royal fugitive, why would I ever expect anything more than 24 hours of peace before being shipped off to a different universe and held prisoner by a spy and a wizard? What kind of sense would _that_ make?” She forced a laugh, and the noise that came out was colored with more than a hint of madness. She twisted her wrists in her cuffs anxiously.

Loki grinned at her. “I do apologise for this, my sweet, but I must say I am not surprised by the speed at which we were captured. And I did, of course, warn Odin of this very possibility, although he saw fit to ignore me.” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “However, the wizard was somewhat unexpected.”

 

 

Author’s Note: Sorry this chapter is late! I aim to update every Tuesday, but sometimes life gets in the way. Thanks for all your likes, kudos, and comments! It really means a lot! I hope you enjoy where this story goes!


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